This invention relates to articles for cleaning, buffing, conditioning, or restoring surfaces.
For at least the last 25 years, abrasive articles made from nonwoven fibers have been used for cleaning floors and other surfaces.
Hoover, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,593 discloses nonwoven fibrous abrasive articles of extremely open structure having an extremely high void volume. This article has been found to be useful in floor maintenance, in hand scouring operations such as performed in domestic kitchens, as well as in various industrial abrasive operations.
McAvoy, U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,121 discloses a soft, resilient compressible polishing pad having a lofty fibrous nonwoven structure bonded by a soft, tough resin containing a finely divided soft mineral filler. This pad is comparable to pads made of lamb's wool with respect to ability to impart luster to buffable waxes. This pad can be used to clean and restore the surface of hard polymer coatings without powdering. This pad also does not scratch or abrade the surface, nor does it impart swirl marks to the finish of the surface.
Fitzer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,350 discloses a low density abrasive product comprising a uniform cross section, porous, lofty web of autogeneously bonded continuous, undulated, interengaged filaments. The web is impregnated with a tough binder resin which adherently bonds the filaments of the web together and also bonds a multitude of abrasive granules, uniformly dispersed throughout the web, to the surface of the filaments.
Although the articles disclosed in the aforementioned patents are extremely useful for the purposes for which they are intended, they rapidly lose their efficiency as they become saturated with dirt. It is known that as the void volume of a nonwoven pad is increased, its ability to absorb more dirt is increased. However, as the void volume is increased the life of the pad is simultaneously decreased. In view of this problem, it has long been desired to provide a nonwoven fibrous pad having a high void volume and a high level of durability.